Executive Office of the President of the United States

The Obama Administration is committed to restoring balance to U.S. drug control efforts by coordinating an unprecedented government-wide public health and public safety approach to reduce drug use and its consequences. Led by the ONDCP, this effort includes a renewed emphasis on community-based prevention programs, early intervention programs in healthcare settings, aligning criminal justice policies and public health systems to divert nonviolent drug offenders into treatment instead of jail, funding scientific research on drug use, and, through the Affordable Care Act, expanding access to substance abuse treatment.

Executive Office of the President of the United States

This Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Plan, released in 2011, expands upon the Administration’s National Drug Control Strategy and includes action in four major areas to reduce prescription drug abuse: education, monitoring, proper disposal, and enforcement.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP)

Healthy People provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans. For three decades, Healthy People has established benchmarks and monitored progress over time to encourage collaborations across communities and sectors; empower individuals toward making informed health decisions; and measure the impact of prevention activities. Healthy People 2020 continues in this tradition with an ambitious, yet achievable, 10-year agenda that includes reducing alcohol consumption and drug use; increasing the proportion of adolescents who disapprove of substance abuse; and increasing screening and treatment for individuals who need alcohol and/or illicit drug treatment.

The SAMHSA’s mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities. To accomplish its work, the SAMHSA administers a combination of competitive, formula, and block grant programs and data collection activities. The Agency’s programs are carried out through its Centers and Offices, including the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

The Opioid Overdose Toolkit educates community members, first responders, opioid prescribers, patients, family members, and overdose survivors on ways to prevent and intervene in an opioid overdose situation. Anyone who uses opioids for long-term management of pain may be at risk for overdose, as are those who use heroin. The good news is that we now know that the drug naloxone can be used as an antidote to opioid overdose and can prevent opioid-related deaths when administered in a medically appropriate and timely manner. The toolkit explains how to use the drug naloxone to prevent overdose-related deaths.

Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD)

The ICCPUD is a cross-agency committee that collaborates to address underage drinking. The ICCPUD agencies are hosting a series of webinars, featuring national leaders and experts discussing the extent and nature of the problem, lessons from recent research, and evidence-based strategies for addressing underage drinking. In addition to the agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that participate on the ICCPUD, partner agencies include the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the Federal Trade Commission.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Excessive alcohol use, including underage drinking and binge drinking (drinking five or more drinks on an occasion for men or four or more drinks on an occasion for women), can lead to increased risk of health problems such as injuries, violence, liver diseases, and cancer. The CDC Alcohol Program works to strengthen the scientific foundation for preventing excessive alcohol use.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The guidance provided can help persons who use drugs, including those living with HIV/AIDS, to reduce or stop their substance abuse. This website includes general information about substance abuse, information about substance abuse treatment and HIV/AIDS prevention, as well as related links about substance abuse treatment.

Coordinated by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

The USPSTF is an independent panel of nonfederal experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine and is composed of primary care providers (such as internists, pediatricians, family physicians, gynecologists/obstetricians, nurses, and health behavior specialists). The USPSTF conducts scientific evidence reviews of a broad range of clinical preventive healthcare services (such as screening, counseling, and preventive medications) and develops recommendations for primary care clinicians and health systems. The USPSTF has issued recommendations on alcohol misuse and illicit drug use.

Coordinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The Guide to Community Preventive Services is a free resource to help you choose programs and policies to improve health and prevent disease in your community. Systematic reviews are used to answer questions about which program and policy interventions have been proven effective; whether there are effective interventions for your community; and the cost of effective interventions as well as the likely return on investment from these interventions. The Guide to Community Preventive Services has issued recommendations on preventing excessive alcohol consumption.